Drabbles A'la Gruvia
by KanaRenee
Summary: A collection of drabbles, ranging from AU to canon timeline. Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you're gonna get- exactly like this collection of drabbles. Rated M for just in case.
1. Witness Protection Program- AU

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 _ **Witness Protection Program**_

*This was an AU request from Tumblr

* * *

Gray wasn't sure what he expected to see when he opened the door, but it wasn't the blue haired woman that stood in front of him.

This wasn't his first go-around with the witness protection program; Erza and Gajeel had pawned off a few different witnesses on him while they awaited final placement. All of them had been skittish, frightened, and wholly unassuming. They stayed in their part of the house, and Gray made sure no one tried to kill them. It was simple.

This wasn't.

First, the girl was beautiful and unique in every way– bright blue hair, slim yet voluptuous figure, and a pair of hauntingly lost eyes. It was as if happiness had never been in her life, and Gray wondered just what she was hiding from. Had it taken away that much from her?

She blushed as soon as she turned and saw him, her eyes downcast.

Maybe it hadn't taken _everything_.

"Ahh–! Um, Juvia is…" she fumbled with her bag before glancing toward him once more. "Juvia was sent here by Erza-san."

"I know."

Wow. Smooth.

This was going to be a long week.


	2. Kidnap Your BF Bachelor Party- AU

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 _ **Kidnapping Best Friend for Bachelor Party**_

*This was an AU request from Tumblr

* * *

She had stopped bristling over the fact that Gajeel had not invited her on his bachelor party. She had easily forgiven him for leaving her out of his side of the wedding party ( _"Levy wants you on her side, and besides, you look better in a dress anyway_ " he'd said), but this was an affront. Juvia had not been Gajeel Redfox's best friend for years just to be left behind on one of the most important nights of his life.

It didn't matter that he'd told her it was a guys thing. It didn't matter that to his stand-in best man (because everyone knew Juvia was Gajeel's _true_ best friend and really she had already told him he would be _her_ man of honor whenever she got married) the night was mean to be exclusively for men. The fact of the matter stood that a man did not celebrate his bachelor party without his best friend.

So Juvia had planned her own version of the party, exclusive for Gajeel and herself. The only tricky part was getting Gajeel. He wouldn't just _leave_ the party his groomsmen and friends had planned, so that called for drastic measures. She pulled up to the bar in the car she had rented (a gunmetal sports car with spinning rims and colored LED lighting underneath, because this was his bachelor party after all and Gajeel deserved to be treated like a man of honor) and stepped out.

The night was young, and there was a lot that needed to be done. She hoisted her large tote purse onto her shoulder and strolled inside without locking the car.

She spied Gajeel across the room with a mixed group of men, some of them familiar and others who were strangers to her. He seemed to be enjoying himself, but she knew he would have more fun with her. The group handled shots that were delivered by a rather scantily clad bar maid, slammed them on the table, and then tossed them back.

"Next bar!" Natsu hollered, hauling all of the group up from their seats and back to the door.

Once they had narrowed into the dark hall out of the bar, she jumped.

A cloth bag fell over Gajeel's head, and in his shock he forgot to struggle as she pulled him out the back entrance she had used to get inside. The car's suicide doors opened and she pushed him into the seat and slammed it shut before racing over to her side of the car. Yes, maybe this was a bit extreme– and the others were likely to notice Gajeel was missing pretty quickly. However, simply bar hopping was not enough for Gajeel's bachelor party and Juvia was going to prove why she was the best friend.

Slamming on the gas, she skidded out of her parking spot and back onto the street.

This was exhilarating.

"Gajeel-kun! You can't tell me this is how you wanted to spend your bachelor party?" she groaned, turning the stereo on to a collection of his favorite music she had loaded onto an MP3 player. "Just getting drunk?"

As she turned the street toward the open mic karaoke bar she had found, Juvia realized Gajeel was quiet. Too quiet. Why wasn't he calling her names, or cursing at her being crazy? Maybe the cloth bag had suffocated him? In a panic she pulled the fabric from his face.

The face that met hers was the most handsome– and unamused– face she had ever seen.

Juvia slammed on the breaks."You're not Gajeel-kun!"

"Don't stop in the middle of the street!"

Her heart was pounding, but Juvia pressed on the gas once more to until she found a parallel parking space to stop. Who was this beautiful stranger? How had Gajeel never introduced her to him? The man across from her shook his head and filtered his fingers through his fair before glancing toward her again.

"I'm not going to pretend I know what this is about." he offered. "I didn't know Gajeel had women that crazy pining for him."

"I-it's not like that!" she threw her hands up in defense. "Juvia is Gajeel-kun's best friend and she was taking him out for his bachelor party!"

"You two have some messed up relationship."

She frowned, seeing that she definitely had gotten off on the wrong foot with this man. Sure, maybe it seemed a bit extreme to kidnap your best friend from his actual bachelor party to take him on one you had planned yourself, but she had no choice. She hadn't been invited!

"Sorry." she mouthed, slightly ashamed. "Juvia wasn't invited, and there is more to Gajeel-kun than a want to drink, so Juvia planned her own party for him."

He seemed to soften a bit at her words. "Where were you going to take him?"

"There's an open mic karaoke bar down the way; I even put his guitar in the trunk and got a silly outfit for him to wear on stage. Then I was going to take him out for dinner at this new mechanic-themed restaurant, and after…"

He held up his hands. "Karaoke?"

"You didn't know Gajeel-kun writes songs?"

The man beside her laughed. "He couldn't sing his way out of a paper bag."

"It doesn't matter how he sounds, it's the passion he puts into it that matters!" she defended.

They sat in the car quietly for a while, the dark haired man glancing around at what she had done to decorate the vehicle. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms, leaning back in the racing bucket seat.

"So you're Juvia then."

"Juvia already said her name." she remarked lightly, seeing his frustration ebb away the more they spoke. Maybe he had forgiven her for kidnapping him? "Gajeel never introduced me to you."

"Gray." he answered, turning slightly to look at her. "I think you missed out on your chance to get Gajeel. What are you going to do now?"

She frowned. "Juvia spent a lot of money on this party…"

"Then lets go."

Her head popped up, glancing at him in surprise. A date? Was he asking her on a date?

"Don't waste your effort. I'm already here." he responded lightly. "Maybe if I wasn't drunk already I might be a bit more weirded out… but I'm curious."

"Gray-sama is sure?"

"Gray-sama?" he made a face, then shrugged it off.

She felt a rush of uncertainly overcome her. This was a party she had planned for Gajeel, but Gray was right. There was no chance in her being able to get him now that she had already kidnapped his very handsome friend. She had spent so much money on this already as well… maybe she could just cut out the more uncouth parts of the party.

"Okay." Juvia decided aloud. She would take this handsome stranger out on a date.

Then after the wedding, she would pummel Gajeel for not introducing her to him sooner.


	3. Assassin and Princess- AU

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 _ **Assassin and Princess**_

*This was an AU request from Tumblr

* * *

The hotel lobby bustled with activity, cameras flashing and reporters shuffling their question queue cards. The _Sorcerers Weekly_ had by far the most annoying and largest presence in the space, snapping pictures of the guests and shoving microphones in their faces for impromptu interviews.

 _How did you obtain an invitation to the princess's unveiling?_

 _Are you a hopeful suitor?_

 _What is your connection to the royal family?_

Gray threw back his glass of liquor, relishing in the burn that filtered through his throat as he glanced toward the crowd of paparazzi, hopeful delegates, council members, and societies elite. Leaning back in his barstool, he turned with trained practice toward the ongoing excitement. This would be the princesses's first public appearance since her birth 18 years before, and the people were rightfully anxious. Who was this leader they had never seen before?

It wouldn't matter. She wouldn't be leading for long.

The crowd began shuffling toward the doors, their noise increasing as the mysterious princess arrived. He swung down from the bar, setting change upon the counter to pay for the drink as he filtered the opposite direction of the crowd. The request of his client had made requirements that the assassination occur out of sight of any camera, and that it leave no trace to being a paid hit. Gray was known for making deaths appear natural and for his stealth, and the hefty payout he would receive upon completion proved that the employer valued this.

Kill a princess. There were few other targets that drew this kind of attention.

Finding her room had been simple; for all the hotels' preparations, they hadn't thought to post decoy security around other suites to fool any oncoming threats. Gray swiped his key card to the room a floor below hers, no one the wiser. He was a spectator who had a few too many and retired before the festivities began. He was another guest, uninterested in the arrival of the princess. To them, he was no one.

To the man who's room he had commandeered, he had been a swift death.

Gray stepped around the body that still lay on the floor and took his place below the air vent. The hotels blueprints had proven a fatal flaw in connecting its luxury suites ventilation system up with the rest of the duct work for the hotel. He could easily enter her room from here, slip in through the grounded venting in her closet, and lay in wait. A security detail would likely inspect the room before they allowed her inside, but Gray was confident that once she was inside she would be alone.

Part of the point of having a princess unveiling was to keep the mystery of her nature and to impress the importance of her privacy. She probably spent a lot of time alone. She was probably naive in the ways of the world. She was probably trained to trust no one.

His interest in her ended at analyzing the information he needed to perform his job; aside from this surface level understanding, Gray never chose to delve any further into the lives of his targets. It was easier to leave no attachments or loose ends; he never took on a role that required more than the assassination. It left no room for questions, no room for conflict.

Killing was hard enough.

Gray lifted himself through the opened vent and into the hollow maze of thin metal, inching along at a silent pace. There was just enough space for him to draw through and turn, arms crunched at his sides and his feet pushing him along from behind. The final turn required him to stand in the small hollow that led upward into the floor vent he intended to come in through. The grating was loose and he made quick work of the screws that held it in place.

Uncomfortable as he was, Gray remained in his position until the anticipated security detail swept through the princess's room; doors opened and closed, mattresses were flipped, the closet was cleared and closed. The sound of boots as they filtered through the room told Gray how many were inside and when they had all left. The door to the room clicked into it's lock, and after a few moments he pushed the grating aside and pulled himself the rest of the way into the room.

As he positioned himself among the clothes and trunks, the door to the room opened again.

"Princess, are you sure you do not wish for someone to join you?"

"That won't be necessary." her voice was smooth and calming, innocent in a way that drew the hairs on Gray's neck to stand on end. "It's been a long day, I'd like to remain alone."

"As you wish, your grace."

The door closed, and Gray settled in to her silence. Through the crack in the closet door her could see her hands upon the door to her room, head bowed low. She work a sparkling purple dress with a low cut back, her hair a shock of sea-blue curls which gracefully fell along her back. She remained in that position for a while, as if she were gathering her bearings to spend her evening alone.

When she did turn, his eyes widened.

The princess was beautiful. How had the royal family managed to keep her hidden this long? There was a sadness in her expression that he noted– was she tired? Had the unveiling gone poorly? Did she see the true, conniving ways of the people?

No. It was something he knew better than that. It was a feeling he knew well.

The princess was lonely, locked away in her palace with no outside interaction. She believed she was alone in the room, in the world, without a soul that could fill the space. She didn't know he lurked just beyond her reach, prepared to kill her with an icy grip about her heart.

For the first time, Gray hesitated.

Why would someone want to kill someone who was already so broken? What did she do– how did her existence– threaten anything?

She was beautiful. Gray couldn't help but wonder how much more beautiful she would be with a smile.


	4. I'm In Love With You

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 _ **I'm In Love With You**_

*This was an request from Tumblr

* * *

Out of all the doors in the guild, the door to the infirmary had to be the heaviest. Gray had stood outside it for the last thirty minutes, placing his hands upon it and finding he couldn't push it open. It was all in his head, he knew that, but he couldn't muster the strength to go inside.

What was he going to do when he did? He already knew what was on the other side– the manifestation of his deepest fears.

She had lived. It had been against the odds, but Juvia had survived. The image of her body shielding him, the way she fought for him– there was a power inside of her he had never truly seen. And then she had been knocked aside and he had been sure he lost her.

The fear that had gripped him in that moment was hot; the rest of the fight had been a blur. He wasn't sure if Juvia got back up, or if he had finished it himself. In the end it didn't matter. He was still standing outside the door, knowing full well he was over the edge and not having the courage to tell her.

 _I think I'm in love with you. And I'm terrified._

Terrified of losing her. Terrified of failing again. Terrified of E.N.D doing to her what Deliora did to his family, to Ur. His ice make could only get him so far; it required a clear head. He couldn't have that when she was in danger. He knew he would sacrifice himself for her again.

Even so, pushing her away didn't seem appropriate anymore. He had tried that for so long, and she always found her way back to him, always moved in just a little bit closer. Now the only thing between them was this door that Gray couldn't bring himself to push open. She was waiting, he knew. She was always waiting.

The fear tasted like bile in the back of his throat. Was he sentencing her to the same fate as everyone else he had loved?

No. He had to believe she would live. She had proven it– she could protect him, she could fight for him, and she could live.

Gray swallowed, closed his eyes, and opened the door.


	5. We Can Never Be Together

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 _ **We Can Never Be Together**_

*This was an request from Tumblr

* * *

He felt her move away, the feather-light pressure of her lips moving with her. Gray could feel the dread drawing through his body as he opened his eyes; Juvia was not happy. Tears had built up but refused to fall and she watched him with a sadness he knew he couldn't quench.

He couldn't stop her. He knew that.

"We can never be together, Gray-sama." her voice hitched, stifling a hiccup as she struggled to contain herself. "It is all Juvia has ever wanted… but we cannot."

He reached for her, but his hand felt hopelessly to his side.

"I know." he felt a sting in the corner of his eyes that radiated to his heart. "I have to let you go."

"Juvia will always be with you."

"Not the way you should be." he glanced toward her once more, watching as the light flickered through her.

She would be going soon, and the urge to draw her back to him was stronger than ever. She was the one thing he couldn't lose, but END proved to be too much. She'd protected him, the same as everyone else. It was the same goodbye he had rehearsed time and time again.

"I'll see you soon." his breath came out defeated, lost. The sting was there, but he'd used up his tears long ago.

She cried for him as her form shifted and disappeared into light.


	6. You're Cute When You're Mad

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 _ **You're Cute When You're Mad**_

*This was a request from Tumblr

* * *

"Gray-sama!" Juvia was beside herself.

Gray stood in the middle of the bar, naked except for his boxers, pool stick in hand, beer on the edge of the table, completely ignoring the women swooning around him while he aimed the shot directly into the pocket. His opponent across the table let their jaw drop as three balls slid into their assigned area and the cue ball landed behind one of Gray's solid balls.

"You're cheating!"

"Cheating's for losers. I don't lose." He took a long swig of the beer, cheeks reddening as the last of it flowed down his throat. Gray threw the bottle into the wall, another set in his hand by the bar maiden before had to ask.

The man on the other end of the table bubbled in frustration. "No one that drunk plays that well."

"Gray-sama!" Juvia decided she needed to stop this; not only had she just overheard the bar owner tell the security to let Gray stay nearly naked because it was bringing women into his bar– no, that was really all there was too it. Too many women eyeing her Gray-sama, and a fight appeared as if it were about to break out as the man across from Gray demanded a rematch.

Gray stopped when he heard her voice, turning and smiling without any inhibition. "Oi, Juvia! Lets pay pairs."

"Pairs?" the suggestion caught her off guard.

Gray swung the cue stick around in his hold, and he poked her playfully in the side. "Ya. This guy could use the handicap."

"Di-Did Gray-sama just poke Juvia with his cue stick?"

He raised an eyebrow and polished off the beer. "Wrong stick?"

Her face turned bright red. "G-Gray-sama!'

"Grab her a drink and a pool stick." He shook off her embarrassment and turned, on hand on his hip and the other holding the pool stick toward the opponent. "Pick a partner! If we win, you pay the bartab!"

The man grabbed the closest person to him and shoved a pool stick in their hand. Juvia shuffled her way to the table.

"Gray-sama! Are you drunk?" she whispered harshly, shoving a shirt at him that he waved off.

"I can't battle with that thing."

"It's a game of billiards not a battle!"

He shrugged, then turned to aim his break. "You're cute when you're mad, Juvia."

She stopped in her retort, intaking that. Gray-sama thought she was cute? He made his shot, his break strong and sending two stripes and one solid ball into different pockets. Gray held himself with a nonchanlance that Juvia knew had to come from the alcohol; he had not even batted an eye at what he said to her.

"Stripes. Juvia?" He motioned toward the table.

She shuffled over and leaned along the table to take her shot, lining the end of the stick with the center of the cue ball. Just as she was preparing to shoot, Gray set a foot between hers and pushed her right leg back.

"Spead your legs, Juvia." her face was crimson as Gray angled her hips. He slipped back and downed another beer while he surveyed her position. "Now shoot."

She shot, but her eyes were closed. She missed miserably and turned toward him, unable to place her feelings. Was she embarrassed? Yes, partially– Gray never acted this way when he was drunk with their friends at the guild. Was she mad? Turned on? Elated? She couldn't tell anymore.

"Gray-sama is drunk! Juvia isn't playing anymore and Gray-sama needs to get dressed and go home! Toying with Juvia's feelings like this!"

"I'm flirting with you, Juvia."

She blinked. "Wha?"

"Flirting." he responded, the red in his cheeks betraying his drunkness and deepening with the realization he had just admitted that. "It's what you do when you like someone."

"Gray-sama… likes Juvia?"

"Nevermind." he picked up his shirt and put it on quickly, throwing a few jewel on the bartop. "Lets get out of here."


	7. Pregnancy Test

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 _ **Pregnancy Test**_

*This was a request from Tumblr

* * *

Gray woke up to breakfast in bed that day and a suspicious Juvia smiling nervously above it.

"It's a very important day, Gray-sama!"

"Another anniversary?"

She pouted. "No… its something even more important than that."

He glanced toward the plate– eggs in a bread basket, milk in a bottle, an empty coffee mug, baby sized fruits– and puzzled. This was for him, so he couldn't have forgotten her birthday. It wasn't _his_ birthday. Maybe the day of the week? Sundays were usually their calmer days, the kind where they stayed in bed late huddled together in the warmth of the blankets and talked or read.

The way Juvia watched him told him that he was supposed to get the hint, and he obviously wasn't. Time to change the subject.

"It looks good." he said, reaching for the the knife and fork Juvia always stored in a long box on the bedtray.

"Wait!" Juvia scrambled around, reaching over the tray with a piece of cloth in hand. "You need your bib first."

"Bib?!"

Gray lifted the offending item up, covered in snowman decals and snowflakes. Seriously? This was getting weird, even for Juvia. What kind of day was s important he needed to wear a bib when he ate breakfast?

He could see her shifting nervously out of the corner of his eye as he reached for the utensll case case. He opened the lid and but his fork and knife were not inside. Instead, there was a long white item with a pink tip. Gray picked it up and turned it around, trying to figure out how the hell he was supposed to eat with it. A small plus sign glared through a window on the stick.

"What the…"

"Gray-sama…." Juvia walked toward him, pot of coffee in hand as she poured it into the empty mug. "Juvia did a pregnancy test…"

It was as if the sound around him stopped and his eyes had zeroed in on the coffee mug she was filling. A pregnancy test? The thing in his hand was a pregnancy test.

Egg in a bread basket– eggs, in the middle of the bread. To present a baby growing in their mother.

Milk in a bottle, because babies drink milk.

Was the fruit supposed to tell him how big it was?!

The cup reacted to the heat and the words "World's Best Dad" appeared across it's once white exterior.

"Happy Father's Day, Gray-sama! We're going to have a baby!"


	8. It's Not Home Without You

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 ** _It's Not Home Without You_**

*This was a request from Tumblr

* * *

"Yatta!"

The big faced clock struck midnight and everyone threw up their glasses in unison. Beer, wine and ale sloshed out of the cups and covered floor before each cup hit the table and then was dumped back into the mouths of ever Fairy Tail member. It was their first night celebrating the restoration of the guild; all of the members were back and housed in a newly built hall. Juvia could not remember the last time they had all been together like this.

Fairy Tail was back, and she was happy.

Yet not all things were back to the way they were… or at least, she hoped they wouldn't be.

Gray sat across the hall with Natsu, Gajeel and Elfman in the middle of a vicious arm wrestling match; he cheered as Elfman's arm transformed with his Beast Soul magic and Gajeel countered by making his own into steel. Natsu breathed fire toward the ceiling as the match heated up. It was nice to see them all back in their natural element. She counted the number of beer bottles on the countertop behind them; Gray was on his seventh.

He would probably get tired soon and head home.

But not to their home. He would head to his own.

"Juvia, cheer up a little!" Lucy winked and passed a drink her way. "We should be happy, right? We're all together again!"

"Juvia was just wondering where she would go tonight." she answered honestly.

Lucy blinked a few times before what Juvia was saying registered. "That's right. You and Gray… it must be strange living on your own again."

Glancing toward her drink, Juvia took a sip.

"I have an idea! You can stay with me if you'd like. It's not like I couldn't use the help paying rent… it's not the same, but at least you won't be alone."

"Lucy wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not! We're friends."

She smiled lightly, glancing toward Gray across the room. Now he was pulling on Elfman's arm, trying to freeze Gajeel's steel to turn the odds in their favor. Natsu countered by adding his heat to melt the freezing magic. Obscenities flew and the cheers turned to upheaval. Mirajane and Erza would be intervening soon.

"Juvia will think about it. Tonight she will stay in Fairy Hills."

"Your sure?"

She nodded. "Juvia needs some time alone. She is sorry for being such a downer when we should all be celebrating."

"It's fine. Drink that and I am sure you'll be feeling cheerful in no time!"

—–

Cheerful was right. The rest of the night was spent singing, dancing, drinking and catching up with all of the friends she had not seen in over a year. Everyone had a story to tell and adventures to share; it was one of the best nights Juvia could remember having with Fairy Tail. As people began passing out at the tables and the uproar died down to a dull banter, she excused herself to head home.

Once out in the cool night air, the reality of the situation hit her. She and Gray-sama had lived together, and now they would go back to the way things were before. The happiest time in her life was over. She should have expected that it would end one day– it had only ever been a temporary arrangement– and yet the idea of living alone felt foreign and unwelcoming.

Juvia turned down the street that placed the fork in the road before heading to town or to the newly rebuilt Fairy Hills.

"Oi, Juvia."

She turned, surprised to see Gray had followed her from the guild hall. He held a bottle in one hand and tilted his head to the side.

"Where are you going?"

"Home, Gray-sama."

"Then why'd you leave without me?"

She smiled. "Juvia is going to Fairy Hills."

A look of irritation crossed his face. "That's not home. Come home with me."

"Gray-sama…" she wasn't sure she was actually hearing these words.

"It's not home unless we're together. I'm tired anyway." He tossed the bottle aside and jogged to catch up to her. "The apartments this way."

She watched as he turned toward the town and followed after, her heart lighter than she remembered. Maybe it hadn't just been a happy time for her. Maybe Gray-sama had missed it too.


	9. Can I Kiss You?

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 _ **Can I Kiss You?**_

*This was a request from Tumblr

* * *

"Can I kiss you?"

Juvia stops mid motion, warm cloth in her hand as it hovered about his wounded chest. Her eyes hesitate before moving toward his face. Gray faced away from her, cheeks a red she had never seen on him before and a grimacing look.

"Ehh?"

"You heard me."

The rag slipped from her fingers, landing on her lap as she leaned forward.

"Gray-sama wants to kiss Juvia?!"

His blush grew and he continued to look away. "Can I?"

She blinked once, thinking of all the ways she had imagined their first kiss and how none of them had been of them battle torn and bleeding on the dirt. She blinked twice, and wondered how anything could have possibly been more romantic than exactly that. She blinked a third time and threw herself at him, arms encircling his neck.

"Ow!" he winced but he caught her anyway. "I said a kiss, not a tackle!"

"Kiss Juvia, Gray-sama!" she said, trails of happy tears running down her cheeks. "That is all Juvia has ever wanted!"

"Tch." he finally looked at her, bringing a hand from about her waist to wipe at the tears. "Don't get your hopes up, I'm probably bad at this."

As he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers, Juvia thought there was no way in the world he could ever be bad at this.


	10. Winter Snow

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 ** _Winter Snow_**

*This was inspired by Winter Snow by Chris Tomlin and Audrey Assaud

* * *

"Here you go, Gray-sama." Juvia walks into the main room of their home, holding two steaming cups of hot chocolate.

Gray glances up from the black marks that marred his hand, startled by how close she was. It didn't seem to matter how long they remained together, he wasn't going to get used to having her around at every turn with anything he could possibly need. It was overwhelming, to be honest. Juvia asked for nothing in return but his company, and he knew he'd been pretty bad at that lately. She smiles warmly and motions with the mug in his direction until he takes it.

"Thanks Juvia."

She turns and collects herself on the sofa beside him, keeping an unusually respectable distance. He raises an eyebrow in her direction, waiting for her to cause some sort of uproar that would put them back where he was used to being, in the comfortable sense of having an excuse to push her away. It happened less and less, and Gray wasn't sure he wanted it to be that way at all.

He needed more time. Moving in with her had been a mistake.

Juvia's eyes settle on the window. "It's snowing, Gray-sama."

"Huh?" her voice sounds sad, so he looks in the same direction and takes a sip of his cocoa.

It's good. She made it from scratch; chunks of chocolate that had failed to melt press beyond his lips and burst on his tongue. He appreciated the inconsistency of the drink and the effort she put into it. When had he stopped refusing these kinds of gifts?

"It seems sad somehow." Juvia pulls her pajama-clad knees up onto the sofa, purple fuzzy socks pointing in his direction. "Like the sky is crying, but it's heart is too cold for rain."

"That's depressing." He wrinkles his nose.

"Snow reminds Juvia of your father."

It was a sobering thought. "Yeah. Me too."

"The snow must be must sadder for Gray-sama."

He shrugs, taking another swig of the cocoa. "No. I'm conditioned to it."

Juvia pulls her own cup away from her mouth, tilting her head to the side in question. Gray wonders if she knows how enticing that position is to him, or how badly he would miss it once this short term of peace was over. They couldn't live this quietly forever—there was still END to deal with, there was still Zeref. Playing house was a temporary respite in the spiral of violence they were in, the eye of a hurricane that had settled about them all.

She's suddenly standing, her cup set on the table as she turns to tug on his arm. Gray's fighting to place his own mug down as she pulls him off the couch.

"What the—"

"Juvia thinks we need to make a happy memory!"

She's pulling them toward the door. "What?"

"The snow reminds Gray-sama of Ur-san and his parents. Juvia will fix that!"

They're outside in the snow in stocking feet, the door to the house wide open like the mouth of a warm and comfortable giant. Juvia refuses to let go until they've both made it at least ten paces from their little recluse and flops into the snow back first. Gray watches as she spreads her arms and legs, swiping up and down in quick motions.

Snow angels. Of course.

"You just wanted to play!" he accuses.

"Juvia wants to play with Gray-sama!"

"Don't say things like that!" he's blushing.

Once she's finished, Juvia jumps up to survey her work. "It's Gray-sama's turn now."

"I'm not making a snow angel."

She glances at him with a fire he couldn't remember seeing directed at him since their fight on the rooftop, when she was a member of Phantom Lord and an enemy he had to defeat at all costs. Now she was chipping away at him slowly, and he was losing the ability to deflect her. Juvia was many things and as she pushes him so he falls onto his butt into the snow it finally makes sense.

There were few things about Juvia that were reserved, and her proclamation of love for him was anything but silent. How she expressed it was completely different, though—she could have come through like a flood, torn through his life like a hurricane, but instead she was the constant support that was always at his side. Her love was constant and soft, calm and slowly falling.

She had taken him like the snow that was falling about them now— slowly collecting until there was more built up than he could have anticipated. There had been a small voice within him he had been able to ignore but it was a blaring horn now, blazing through him like a fire. He'd fallen for her before he'd even realized it.

"Snow angel, Gray-sama!"

He flops onto his back and gives up. There's no use in fighting her, she had already won months ago. He was all hers, he just couldn't tell her yet. If Juvia wanted to play in the snow, then he would play in the snow with her. If she wanted to drink cocoa and snuggle on the couch he would do that too. There were few things in life as healing as unconditional love and Juvia had lathered an ointment on him that filled all the cracks in his heart.

"That's terrible." She pouts.

And now she was insulting his snow angel. Gray rolls onto his side, collecting some of the codl fluff in his hands to form a ball. That was fine. She had picked a fight with the wrong person. Gray knew how to play in the snow.

The snowball is flying out of his hand and lands on his shoulder; it doesn't take her long to realize what's going on and she's pulling away with a peel of laughter, rushing to find some place to hide and create her own snowball. Gray scrambles to his feet and follows her, just like he knew he always would.

He couldn't tell her now, but he knew his answer. He loved her, his warmth in a winters cold.

"I need to tell Juvia."

The words were out of his mouth without a stitch of regret. Erza's eyes grow wide at his boldness, and Gray can't say he blames her. The last time they spoke about Juvia had been during the Grand Magic Games, and he hadn't been too keen on letting on what he'd been pretending not to feel.

"No." Erza shakes her head. "This is top secret, Gray."

"I can't just leave her." He's practically begging.

"You have to. Undercover missions require complete secrecy. You'll be endangering the mission, but you'll also be making her a target."

The chill that rushes through Gray stops his intention of standing and leaving. Here it was, a chance to learn more about END and Zeref. He would be infiltrating the dark guild Avatar, proclaiming to be a pro-Zeref fanatic. His appearance with the demonic transition of his demon slaying magic and his history gave him the perfect alibi. Erza couldn't do this without him, and the sooner he got the answer the sooner he could give Juvia hers.

Erza shakes her head apologetically. "I'm sorry Gray. She's can't know. It won't be for long, I'm sure she'll forgive you."

He crosses his arms and leans back in the seat at the table they're sharing in her rooms. The temptation to refuse is strong, but his desire to protect Juvia is stronger. There was no question on whether or not he would go on the mission; that's why Erza had asked in the first place.

"Yeah." He says finally.

It was just for a short time. He would be home again before Juvia realized he was gone longer than he should have been. Erza smiles in approval of his decision then passes him a lacrima phone, instructing him that they would need code names. She chose to go with Code Red.

Juvia's face flashed in Gray's mind. "I'm Code Blue."

He would be home soon.

He would.

Before she even knew it.


	11. Watery Grave

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 ** _Watery Grave_**

*Inspired by Angst Feels regarding the Alvarez Arc

* * *

He could picture her wrapped around him, her eyes full of tears but a smile on her face. That image would be bored into the deepest corners of his soul, imprinted onto the marrow of his bones, fresh and bleeding as a open wound in his chest. The heat of ENDs flames was far away within the coolness of her water and Gray had never hated her intangibility so much.

He couldn't stop her. He couldn't pull her out of the way,couldn't force her away. All he could was freeze her and encase them in a permanent crystalline statute, suspended between the living and the dead- but it would defeat the was doing this for him.

"Gray-sama," her voice had gurgled against her tears, erupted in the cocoon of her water body, "Juvia will seal away this darkness."

How many times had he heard those same words, been protected by the selfish desire of others to keep him breathing? He had sworn it wouldn't happen again, that he would protect her. She was supposed to let him focus. She was supposed to wait for his _answer_.

"Juvia, no."

"Juvia knows Gray-sama is strong." she had continued, agaisnt the softness of his own protests. He was wrapped in the security of her as the flames ate her away, dissolving her piece by piece.

He had seen how steam could harm her, the amount of pain it placed on the parts of her that had merged into magical particles that turned her to water. It was the power that made her impossible to harm with physical attacks. It was the power she used to invade a demons body and reform to decimate him. It was the power she had used to protect him from Simon.

How much strain did it take for her to hold her water body as she evaporated in the heat?

"Juvia stop. No." his voice was choked. Gray reached for the image of her face, cursing himself for not knowing better. For thinking she wouldn't follow.

For making the same mistake _again_.

"You have to win." she continued, ignoring his attempts to materialize her, to hold her, to draw her away. She ignored his tears. She ignored his protests. "Juvia knows Gray-sama is the only one. She is so happy she got to learn about family and friends, about love, before she disappeared."

He became desperate, pulling, tearing. "You're not dying!"

Gray turned toward the wall of her water lock, trying in vain to press against the current she created to root him in place. Juvia had not intention of letting him out. She had no intention of stopping now.

He would have to stand here and watch as she turned into nothing, wrapped in the security of her waters and love. He had to watch the pain in her face, hear the sorrowful words that drew every negative emotion within him. The Momento Mori curse was clawing under his skin to take over, and Gray thought he would gladly become the same nothingness she was fading into.

"Be strong Gray-sama. Juvia is sorry, but she told you... Juvia can protect you, Juvia will protect you."

"Not like this!"

He felt childish, arguing over something he had no control over. Would he let her die with venom in his voice? Could he do this?

Could he?

"Juvia loves Gray-sama. She is sorry we can't return to our home."

The space in her water was dwindling, shrinking as the power of END's flames drew hotter, harder, larger, violently encasing them both through the roar. Juvia's eyes strained to keep her water as contained as possible, willing herself to withstand the heat until the fire had died. Until she could release the water that did not make up her body and with it her spirit.

Until she could become one with the ocean, like Ur.

Gray grit his teeth and looked her straight in the eye. "I love you. You better find a way back to me, Juvia."

She blinked.

"I'm not losing you. I have too much to say and too much I want to do."

"Gray-sama.."

"We're going go back to that house. We'll finish fixing it up. I'll expand your garden."

He could see her resolve shaking, the way she bit her lip and looked away.

"We'll get married, have a few kids. I'll start up a school and get some disciples. You'll cook good food and drive them all mad and at the end of the night we'll sit down-"

"- and eat a meal together." she finished.

"You're going to grow old with me, and help me keep Lyon in place. Help me deal with Natsu when I get him out of this mess."

"Gray-sama-" her voice was thick with tears as the water around him tightened.

He knew he was crying. He didn't care. "So find your way back to me Juvia. I' not making this promise to anyone else. That's my answer."

The flames pulled away and for a short moment, Gray thought he had given her the power to fight. The night sky surrounded them and her water pulled him close, hugging him with a mixture of warmth and cool. He could feel her, knew she was still there.

"I'm sorry, Gray-sama."

He hadn't realized he'd closed his eyes until the water was gone, no dampness on his skin only air and salt and anger. His power was gone, because she was gone. She was wrong. He wasn't strong.

He was weak. Ice mages couldn't protect what mattered. They always failed.

Gray didn't want to fight anymore, but it was why she'd saved him. She believed in him.

Stop END.

Save Natsu.

 _Find her again._

Every part of Gray's body demanded to be released to the darkness brewing within him, but he held off only by her words. He would do what she asked. He'd stop END. He'd save Natsu.

Then he'd stop fighting. He'd return to nothingness with her.


	12. Living is the Key

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 _ **Living is the Key**_

*Inspired by Angst Feels regarding the Alvarez Arc

* * *

Gray threw himself back onto the bed, kicking off his shoes and tossing the paper and pen beside him with a resigned growl. It shouldn't be this _hard_ to get out what he wanted to say. He could her Juvia tinkering in the kitchen and closed his eyes is resignation. There was only a short amount of time before they would be facing the whole of the Alvarez Army, and he couldn't get three words down on this stupid piece of paper.

Maybe it was Juvia's feathered pen. It kept tickling his face when he wrote.

Maybe it was the incense she set above his bed, insisting it would help them both focus. The sage and eucalyptus was just distracting.

Maybe it was the fact she was in the apartment at all.

Or maybe he was going about this all wrong.

He wanted a letter for her to find if anything happened to him. Gray had decided as soon as the fight with Avatar ended that he owed Juvia so much more than just an explanation—she deserved an answer. A true one. He always waited until it was too late and with the stakes this high, he knew there was no more room for error. He needed to give her something to live for. He needed to give _himself_ something to anchor him back home.

Gray wasn't a fool. He knew how easy it was to justify sacrificing his life, and that she would be by his side whether he tried to leave her behind or not. It was a concoction for disaster. They both needed the reminder.

And he needed to back up plan.

So why was it so damn hard to write down that she was his only goal once the dust cleared and the war was over? That she was the one thing keeping him grounded and the one he feared losing the most? It was a piece of paper she would never read unless he didn't make it. It wasn't like he was confessing anything new to himself. He leaned over and lifted the paper high above his head, reading what he had managed to scratch down.

It wasn't good enough. He sounded like he was writing about things he was never able to do with her instead of letting her know she had been the brightest, strongest influence of his life. He needed her to read this with a smile if she ever had to read it at all.

He had already cost her enough tears.

Gray crumpled the paper and tossed it to the floor beside his shoes and a tipped over box of billiard balls, reaching for another sheet to try again. He got through four lines, stopped midsentence, crumpled the paper and reached for another.

He started by trying to list the things he loved about her. Next, he tried to explain why he did whatever the hell he did to make her have to read the damn letter at all. A third sheet of paper chronicled his favorite memories, when he realized what she meant to him. A fourth told about how he had missed her while on his mission in Avatar, explained why he left without a word, and how it physically hurt to know he wasn't coming back to her in a matter of days when the weeks turned to months.

None of it was right. He needed to get out of this apartment, where the clicking of the clock counted down how the seconds pushed passed him and he still had nothing to present for all of his effort. He grabbed his coat and headed out through the window. Juvia would stop him if she saw him go through the door and at this moment seeing her was the last thing he needed.

He needed air. He needed the chill of a city under siege. He needed to clear his head.

It was just an answer. Just a back up plan in case he couldn't give it to her himself.

Gray rounded down the alley toward the bridge over the river, shoving his hands into his pockets. A crinkle of plastic and paper near his left hand caused him to stop along the boardwalk, pulling a fresh chocolate bar from his coat. His favorite one.

 _Juvia, what the hell am I going to do with a chocolate bar during a war?_

He opened it and popped it in his mouth, leaning along the stone railing that overlooked the city and began to chew. What good was chocolate in a war? You had to be alive to enjoy it.

Halting mid bite, Gray smiled. Maybe that was the point. He was going about this all wrong. Juvia didn't need a letter with his answer. He needed to make sure he lived long enough to give it to her. It would never sound right coming from him out of the blue on paper hidden under her pillow or in the cabinets. If he didn't' make it that far, he didn't deserve to give her an answer at all.

You don't confess your love for a girl because you're dying. You do it because you can't live without her.

"Gray-sama…."

"Juvia?" he turned, wondering when she had snuck up on him and how she had realized he was gone so quickly. There was concern etched in her face.

In that moment, Gray made a decision. He offered her his chocolate. "Want some?"

The surprise that overcame his features as she took the chocolate she had stored in his coat and was exactly what he needed. Gray smiled, directing his attention back on the city and on what he needed to say. It wouldn't be an answer, but it would be a reason to keep on living long enough to give one to her.

"I'm grateful that have you. You're always by my side."

"Ah, no—that's—"

"When the battle's over, I'll give you my answer."


	13. Ashen Snow

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 _ **Ashen Snow**_

*Inspired by Angst Feels and Headcanons with RieRieBee, Squisherific, DooshieDoosh and Wolfcry17

* * *

Lyon had felt this pain before, raw and deep and tormenting. It was an ache that left his mouth parched and his heart on the floor at his feet. Unlike when he'd thought he'd lost Gray, Lyon had no voice to cry out his anguish. This time was different. He held fast to the arms lashing out at him, ignored the hatred in Gray's voice, crying silently as the ground tore up before them.

It had been too late, whether Gray cared to accept it or not. Lyon wouldn't lose them both.

Juvia would have never forgiven him.

Gray's elbow stabbed sharply into the side of his head, blackening his vision for the barest of moments. He lost his hold and struggled to regain the upper hand.

"Let me go, stupid bastard!"

Lyon wrestled him to the ground, pinning Gray beneath his weight. The explosions hadn't ceased and it took all of his power to keep the thrashing boy beneath him still; his arm pressed hard into Gray's neck. He couldn't hold him still forever, but he had to for now.

Had to do it for her.

Gray's voice grated against his ears, cursing Lyon for stopping him, cursing the Alvarez army, bursting with threats to anyone who dared to stop him as he clawed his way out of Lyon's hold. He leaned forward and shoved his weight full on Gray's back.

"It's too late." His words were softer than he intended, meant to comfort but also make Gray understand the situation. "It's too late. I'm sorry."

"She's not dead!"

There were few times in his Lyon could remember feeling genuine remorse. He'd known since the Grand Magic Games how Gray felt about Juvia, remembered with a sharp pain the possible future where he had died for her. It wasn't as if he blamed him, she was a beautiful woman throughout, strong and gracious and pure. Beautiful. She had loved Gray with a passion Lyon had once wished would be directed toward him.

He'd stepped aside, so Gray could see what was before him. He hadn't stopped caring for her, but the crush had changed to the same brotherly affection that kept him pressed against Gray, biting back the sobs so he could take on his anger. Juvia wanted him to live.

Lyon would make sure he did.

"I'm sorry."

"Fuck you!" Gray spun, using the lack of Lyon's leverage on his legs to spin around and land a sharp right hook to his face.

Lyon let Gray hit him. He let him knee him in the stomach, but he didn't let go. Gray wrestled back, and yet Lyon held fast. Gray slammed his head into Lyon's, and despite the dizziness and ringing in his ears he refused to let go.

Just a bit longer. Just until the explosions stopped.

He could take this pain, and he could take the blame—he could shoulder Gray's hatred, the way he'd always made Gray do for him. This was their weight to bear together. If Gray had to slash and bite and growl and threaten him to hell then Lyon would keep taking it until their ears stopped ringing and the debris stopped falling as ashen snow.

They struggled until the pounding before them stopped and the creaking of the building turned to ghostly silence. Lyon's left eye was swollen and two of his fingers broken by the time Gray managed to escape his hold and rush into the disappearing fog.

"Juvia!"

Her name on his lips tore through Lyon in its desperation; he could hear Gray breaking, crumbling, and knew there was nothing he could do but watch.

There was nothing he could have done, nothing Gray could do, nothing Meredy could have done. Gray dropped to his knees in the snow near where they had last seen Juvia fighting, digging like a madman with the remainder of his hope. Lyon took two steps forward before Meredy's hands stayed him. She shook her head, unable to meet his eyes against her own tears.

Gray stopped digging. He stopped calling out for Juvia. He stopped altogether, frozen in place.

The cry that fell from his lips curdled Lyon's blood, sending chills far colder than ice from the tips of his fingers to the edges of his hair. Gray cried out with an anguish that mirrored the falling of a mountain, tumbling from the clouds to its fractured foundation. He cried with the voice of a man who had lost everything.

The cry of a man who had nothing left, Juvia's bloodied hat in hand.

Dark marks bloomed from the tattoo on his arm, consuming the length of his bicep and shoulders, slinking dangerously about his torso. Gray fell forward, his body wracking with sobs that shook Lyon to the core. He couldn't go near Gray now.

He might never be able to stand at his side again.

The snow around Gray turned to ice, red as if filled with blood. The black had covered every inch of exposed skin, along with it the rise of a dark power Lyon felt with dread. It was a darkness he knew.

Demonic.

What had become of them? Juvia would not have wanted Gray dead because of her.

She wouldn't have wanted this either.


	14. The Waiting Plate

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 _ **The Waiting Plate**_

*Inspired by a random comment during a drive with Wolfcry17

* * *

The first day he didn't come home, Juvia hadn't worried. She read a book on the small chair he'd bought for her to match his own (on her persistence they have _somewhere_ to sit together), and as his food went cold she realized he'd left on another mission without telling her. It wasn't the first time, of course. Gray had been leaving and returning without notice for well over a month now, short trips and even shorter days at home, all in secrecy.

She hadn't asked at first. He hadn't offered up any answers when she did. Juvia had closed her book and covered his plate of food before placing it in the fridge. It would go bad before he came back, so she would have to eat it tomorrow.

It wasn't that these mysterious missions didn't hurt her; they did. Just when Gray had begun opening up to her, relying on her, just when they were in this happy place together he was pulling away from her again.

When Gray was home, everything was wonderful. They stayed up talking, they trained, he patched the roof to keep the snow and wind out while she stoked the fireplace to keep them warm. He even cooked for them sometimes. And just when Juvia was sure he would not leave again, she would wake up to an empty house and a quickly scrawled note that he had to go and would be back soon.

This time the note just said "Out. Gray."

Juvia bolted the door and headed to her room, watching the snow fall outside the window. It snowed here much more than in Magnolia, large thick flakes that were heavy with the burden of water soaked within them. It was a snow that wasn't sure what it was, a storm or a beautiful glittering miracle that allowed all things beautiful to sleep until spring.

To Juvia, the snow was sadness. When the snow came, her Gray-sama left.

* * *

She had waited two weeks before her sadness turned into concern. There were no signs that he had returned home for supplies or a change of clothes; his room was in the same impeccable order it had been when he left and she'd cleaned up after him. There were no small gifts of fresh apples or the pears she liked that he sometimes left when he was passing by but had no time to stay.

It was as if her Gray-sama had disappeared from the face of the earth, blown away in the thickness of the snow.

She waited one more week before the concern had gnawed through her ribs and started to tear at her heart, and Juvia had packed up a bag and decided to try to find him. She left a note, just in case he came home while she was gone. She made a plate of food and placed it in the fridge, making sure he knew it was there. Just in case.

He could come back.

And yet he didn't.

Juvia searched for weeks. She trudged through the chilly winter air, slept in caverns alone, asked around but no one had seen her Gray-sama. She searched through winter and well into spring, leaving a note and a meal for him every time before she left only to find the note still folded on the tabletop and the plate of food molding in the fridge.

The snow turned to rain, and soon it was not just Juvia and Gray's little home that was empty, but the village too. The only movement was that of water on the rooftops and Juvia's feet trudging down the muddied path to the abandoned home she had neglected, knowing somewhere in the depths of her heart that Gray would not be there to greet her.

The rain didn't leave, not this time. Juvia found she didn't have the heart to fight it.

* * *

At night, Juvia would leave the door unlocked. Maybe Gray-sama had lost his key?

Maybe he wanted to come back, but he couldn't.

Something terrible had happened to him. Maybe her Gray-sama was dead?

Maybe he ran off with someone else?

Had the dark marks been something to worry about after all?

Drip drip drop. Drip drip drop.

She set down the sewing project she had been working on, glancing out the window as the rain continued to fall. Her garden had died weeks ago; she'd tried to save it by placing a tarp over it, but the ground had become so saturated with water that it had drained all life from the soil. Juvia had cried; Gray had helped her till the ground and chose the vegetables they would grow. He'd helped her pick them when it was time to harvest.

They were happy memories, but Juvia's happiness had been frozen in the snow and now washed down river to someone to deserved it more.

Maybe her Gray-sama hadn't forgiven her for killing his father.

Maybe her Gray-sama had never cared at all.

Maybe he had cared too much. Maybe he had tried to get back to her, and just couldn't.

Juvia was beginning to think that maybe he never would.

* * *

She had fallen asleep at the table again; Juvia awoke to the sound of lightning in the distance and the howling of the wind. The rain still fell, but at least it wasn't her rain. Not this time, at least.

Gray's plate sat untouched across from her. Juvia reached and pulled it toward herself. It wasn't any good anymore; the sauce she'd poured over the meat had thickened to a paste, and the rest of the food smelled stale and soured.

Five months. It had been five months since Gray left, five months of searching and worry and fear and now she had no tears left to cry only rain and empty meals and soiled projects and an empty village to keep her company. Juvia stood and tossed the spoiled food in the trash, dropping the dish into the sink. She didn't bother washing it yet; she'd do that when she set out to cook dinner that night. Until then she would sit in the center of town on the bench at the end of the road that led to their house and she would wait.

Waiting. Always waiting. Maybe Gray-sama would never come home, but Juvia would stay anyway. Maybe he didn't need to be found. Maybe she just needed to stay.

Maybe. Always maybe.

No one crossed into the village that day, as always. Juvia was alone, as she had been until Fairy Tail. When Fairy Tail ended, she had for a short while had the happiest time of her life with her Gray-sama.

Now she was alone again. Happiness was but a ripple in the ocean of her life, a brief reprieve before the storm came to swallow everything up. The rain always won.

That night, Juvia set Gray's plate and sat at the table and waited until the limited light that shown beneath the clouds turned to darkness and the darkness turned into midnight. She sat facing the door with its small lantern shining in the window, hoping that tonight at least she would get her answers. If not her Gray-sama, then maybe someone else with news of him. Maybe a friend.

Anyone. Anything.

Her head slumped on the cool surface of the wood and Juvia closed her eyes. She would keep waiting. She would always be waiting, and if Gray ever chose to return to her and the happiness they had shared there would be a plate set for him and a she would greet him with the smile only he could give her.

* * *

The lantern was on. It was all he could see through the rain.

The door was unlocked. He paused, heart stopping. He'd been found. Maybe they had always known. Maybe he was too late. Maybe everything he'd done to keep her safe had been everything that was wrong, and he'd open the door and find her lost.

But he needed to know. He pushed the door open and crossed the threshold.

The house was dark except for the dying embers of a candle on the table, reflecting the sapphire hues of her hair as she slept. Gray stopped just before the door would have creaked and took in the sight of her, one arm reaching toward a full plate of food that should have been put away hours ago. The house was as he remembered except for the lived in feel of her handpicked flowers and stacks of books. The floor was wet. She was still fully dressed.

How many nights had she waited up for him like this?

Guilt was nothing new to Gray, but the feeling in his chest was new—a mixture of guilt and responsibility. He had not meant to be gone so long. He hadn't meant to bring back the rain. There were many things he hadn't meant to do and they all went back to her and the fact that at one point he had a choice, but now he had none.

He could have told Erza no.

He could have told Juvia anyway.

He could have forced them to stop this mission, to make an example of Avatar instead of trying to sniff out the rest of the Zeref fanatics. They weren't that strong.

The only thing that kept him in this secrecy was her. Gray knew she would find him and follow him and he wouldn't be able to play the villain with her in the crossfire. Juvia was not a weakness but she was the one thing that could make him fall apart, the one thing that could break the mission apart, and he'd already dedicated himself to seeing this out.

To find out about END. To do what he promised his father. To create the future he needed to ensure before he could give her what she deserved.

But Gray knew they were just excuses. Juvia hadn't deserved any of this.

With deft fingers and light hands, he picked up the plate and began to eat.

* * *

She felt warm.

Juvia shifted in bed, finding the smell of the pillow and sheets comforting. They smelled of Gray and the soap he'd always used. Her blankets smelled nothing like this. Her bed was softer, except that she hadn't fallen asleep in her bed last night. She'd fallen asleep at the table.

Gray-sama?

She shot up in the bed, rubbing away at the drowsiness in her eyes to focus. Gray's room came into focus. Had she slept walked into his room? The entire time Gray had been gone, Juvia had never once stepped foot in his room. It was his. She didn't belong in there anymore, touching the things he'd left behind along with her. He would come for them one day.

Her bare feet hit the floor and Juvia remembered she had not been barefooted last night. Nor had she been sleeping in one of Gray's shirts.

Heart pounding, she got up and ran to the door, pulling it open with a hope and fear that battled to regain her sanity. He had been gone for five months, why would he come back now? Would he be sitting on the chair, waiting for her to wake up?

Once she'd made it into the main part of the house, Juvia realized that he wasn't there at all—but the evidence was everywhere that he had been, at least for a little while, somewhere near her.

His plate was empty and still sitting on the table.

Her clothes were folded neatly on the chair she remembered falling asleep on, her boots stored by the door.

She was wearing his clothes; how could she have possibly slept through him changing her?

He had put her in bed. _His_ bed.

And on her side of the table lay a plate with four pieces of toast topped with butter and jam. An offering. An apology.

A promise.

Her Gray-sama had come home. He would come home again.

It wasn't enough to stop the rain. It wasn't enough to keep her from falling to her knees and crying.

It wasn't enough for a lot of things, but it was enough to make her hope. He'd come back to this place, their home. He would come back to her. She would just have to keep waiting.


	15. The Surprise

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 _ **The Surprise**_

*Inspired by a boredom at work

* * *

"Can Juvia look yet?"

Gray kept his hands on Juvia's shoulders, slowly guiding her as she covered her eyes and walked forward. The ground crunched beneath their feet, a mixture of leaves and dirt, and he could feel the tension in his chest rising. This was all done on impulse and there was a part of him that wasn't sure he had actually made this decision. It was kind of a big deal.

He wasn't sure how Juvia would take it.

"Now?"

"Almost." He prodded her forward with his feet, turning her down a different trail.

That was a lie. He knew _exactly_ how she would react—with happiness. It was the level of happiness he was worried about. Would she say something about them getting married? Was she going to jump on him? Maybe she would pretend to be embarrassed and say they were moving too fast?

Were they?

Or was he?

When they reached their destination, Gray stopped and pulled her just a bit closer to him than she had been when they were walking and breathed deep. He wasn't scared. He wasn't worried.

He was nervous as hell.

This wasn't exactly something you did for a friend. It wasn't something you did for just anyone, for that matter. Maybe he'd lost his mind—all the reasons why he shouldn't be standing here with Juvia right now were also the things that made him feel being here was necessary in the first place. Where else would they go, anyway?

He was definitely crazy. He'd knocked his head on the last mission… maybe he'd knocked it harder than he thought.

Or maybe he had always been a bit off when it came to Juvia—at what point his desire to make her happy had trumped the desire to keep her safe, he didn't know, but that's exactly what he was doing right now.

Making her happy. Definitely not keeping her safe.

Oh, fuck it. It was too late now. He'd already signed the papers.

"Okay." Deep breath. "You can look now."

* * *

 _"Look, Gray-sama!"_

 _Juvia pointed toward a small shop selling an array of different items— flowering plants in pots, wind chimes and doormats. Gray stopped walking when he realized the vendor had taken her full attention, explaining the virtues of this flower and the healing properties of that plant and the therapeutic nature of wind chimes when one viewed the fireflies at night. She was eating up everything the man told her._

 _He thought of stepping off to another shop to look around while he waited, but the idea of the man swindling Juvia into buying things he'd have to carry until they finished the mission made him reconsider. Gray stepped just within view to catch the merchant's eye before he got any ideas. Juvia wasn't a target for his sales, and Gray was not a carrier of all purchased things._

 _What was Juvia going to do with all these things anyway? They were for homes, and at the moment they were nomads of ice and water. The guild was destroyed and disbanded. They'd stuck together for the last two months because neither of them had much reason to return to Magnolia, and missions were easier as a team._

 _It wouldn't last forever, though. At some point he would have to go on his own and she would have to take her own way. He'd asked her before if she'd thought about what she would do if a mission came up that she couldn't help with. She'd smiled and told him not to worry about her, but there was sadness behind her eyes and in the way she moved._

 _It was the same motion he saw in her now._

 _"It's all so lovely." She replied, moving away from the stand with a sad smile. "Juvia would love to buy all of them, but she has no place to keep them."_

 _Gray glanced toward her at that. Ouch._

 _No place at all?_

 _"You couldn't clear some space on your table, miss?" the merchant asked._

 _She shook her head. "Right now Juvia has no home."_

 _The man moved to ask her another question—or make her an offer, Gray wasn't sure and he wasn't about to wait to find out. Gray took hold of Juvia and with a hasty goodbye, he pulled her through the crowded village street. They didn't slow until he was sure the stand was far enough away that they wouldn't be interrupted._

 _"No home? At all?" he asked sharply._

 _"Juvia lived in the girl's dorm."_

 _"No family?"_

 _"Gray-sama already knows the answer to that." She glanced wistfully about the village as they finished marching through._

 _His mind was already reeling, half angry with himself for not making the connections and half disappointed she'd never thought to confide in him. It was well established that if he really wanted to, Gray could return to his apartment in Magnolia. It was still standing. He was following the work right now, and having Juvia along made the time go a bit faster._

 _He hadn't taken the time to wonder if she had remained with him for that same luxury._

 _"This town is really nice. Juvia hopes she can visit it again."_

 _He didn't need to look in her direction to know there was a sad smile set there. Most people wouldn't notice, but not many people knew Juvia the way he did—nor had they been the cause of most of her forced cheerfulness._

 _Gray knew what he needed to do. The idea was crazy but at that moment he didn't care. He had a plan, and he had just enough jewel tucked away to do it._

* * *

When she finally opened her eyes, Gray was greeted with silence. His hands hadn't left her shoulders, but his heart pounded against his chest with a weird kind of exhilaration. He'd never tried to surprise someone like this before. He'd never cared enough to put the effort into it. He'd never felt this type of responsibility.

Keep his friend safe? Yes. Protect those he loved? Of course.

Give someone a place to call home? No. No, this was new.

Gray had never considered he could be the only home someone had. Since the guild disbanded, that was exactly what he'd been for Juvia.

"Gray-sama?" her voice was soft, as if she were afraid what was seeing wasn't real. "This house is so cute! How did you find it?"

"I didn't find it. I bought it."

She spun around, nearly taking him with her with the force of her shock. Juvia's eyes were wide, filled with questions and other things he probably didn't want to know about, but she had his full attention. There were times when he'd lost control of his ability to push her away; times he'd reached for her for strength, a night he'd fallen into her a broken mess. For all of that she'd never asked for anything but his affection.

Gray had known she'd always had it, but it was in this moment he realized he was tired of hiding it.

"Bought it? Gray-sama is going to stay here?"

" _We're_ going to stay here."

"Gray-sama and Juvia? Together?" her hands lifted to cover her mouth.

He knew he was blushing. He tried not to care. "Yeah. Did you think I was going to leave you behind?"

Just when Gray was certain she would jump him, something completely unlike everything he'd envisioned happened. Juvia didn't squeal with delight. She didn't go racing toward the house to see what was inside or make any outlandish statements about them doing this backwards. She didn't tell him he was being bold or ask when their wedding would be.

Juvia cried, slow hot tears peeling from her eyes like rain on a summer afternoon.

"Thank you." the words came out choked and sincere. "Juvia is so happy, she—"

He didn't wait for her to finish; it was awkward, but they were alone on the outskirts of the village, hidden by trees, and he'd just bought a house and asked her to move in. Invited her into his life in a way he couldn't take back or explain away as a normal thing. So instead, he enveloped her in his arms and let her cry.

Gray knew he couldn't take this back. He hadn't asked her out. They weren't dating. He still had things he needed to finish before could think about that, before he could bother working through the emotions that she brought up in him.

But they would build a home together, and maybe for them that was the right place to start.


	16. Autumn Date

**Drabbles Ala' Gruvia**

 ** _Autumn Date_**

*Inspired by the Gruvia Day Postcard/10th Anniversary Event Card by Mashima

* * *

Juvia looked through the clothes scattered across the room in distress. She had always thought her first date with Gray-sama would be in the spring—spring was the season of love, after all. She'd had that outfit chosen _forever_ , stored in the back corner of the closet awaiting Gray-sama to return her feelings. It was perfect for summer; flowy in the breeze, light in the warmth.

What it was not perfect for was autumn.

Which was exactly when Gray-sama finally invited Juvia on a date.

After the initial elation and excitement had ebbed off, the panic had set in. Juvia had planned for her romance with Gray-sama to blossom at nearly any point, but for some reason she had overlooked autumn entirely. She had nothing to wear, and less than four hours to get ready. What was she going to do? That was not enough time to go buy anything new!

Spinning back toward the closet, an idea hit her. On the very top shelf was a hat she'd received from Erza as a gift that she had not yet worn. It didn't exactly match any of the clothes she already had with its dusty pink, green and yellow rings so it had sat unused since. Juvia pulled the hat down and placed it on her head, adjusting the angle until it sat in a familiar position.

Yes. This hat was perfect for autumn.

Juvia just had nothing else to wear with it- but she knew someone who did.

* * *

Lucy blinked twice, taking in the scene before her of the hat on her coffee table and Juvia prostrate before her on the floor. "Juvia, you don't have to bow like that…"

"Juvia desperately needs Lucy's help! She will remain like this all day if she has to!"

"I would help you whether or not you bowed. A date with Gray is a big deal, isn't it?" Lucy smiled and reached to help Juvia sit instead of kneel. "I'm sure I have something you can borrow."

Juvia nearly burst into tears, her relief evident. "Thank you! No one has as many clothes as Lucy. However, may Juvia make a request?"

"A request?"

"Juvia will not wear any of Lucy's skimpy outfits!"

Lucy's eyes grew huge. "They're not skimpy!"

Satisfied, Juvia reached for the hat again, her hands shaking. Was she nervous, having to come to her love rival for help? No, it wasn't nervousness over that. Pink and green were not Juvia's usual colors. Would Gray-sama like it? Did he like pink?

Would Lucy sabotage her attempts at wooing her Gray-sama on their first date?!

"You want to wear that?" Lucy eyed the hat with a smile. "It's different. I like it."

"Do you think Gray-sama will like it?"

"I think he'll be surprised."

Juvia frowned. "That's not reassuring Lucy…."

"I don't mean it in a bad way. Gray asked you out, so I am sure he'll like anything you wear—he just wants to spend time alone with you, right?" Lucy amended, accepting the hat once Juvia released it to her. "He isn't really known for keeping his _own_ clothes on, so you are bound to impress him no matter what you wear. Did he tell you where you were going?"

The question caused Juvia to start. She hadn't even thought of that—where they were going would affect what she should wear too. Was this place casual or formal? Would they need to wear something they could move around in? Was the hat even appropriate?

Why did she not ask him?!

"No." Juvia felt deflated. The date had not started yet and already she was risking turning it into an absolute disaster.

"That's fine! Maybe it's supposed to be a surprise. Give me a few minutes, I think I have something that would be perfect."

* * *

Glancing into the mirror, Juvia couldn't help the smile creeping at the corner of her mouth. Lucy may not always have the best choices in fashion, but she did a good job putting together and outfit that would match the hat—a darker coral-copper sweater, pleated green skirt, and a pair of white shoes with a strap. It looked good together and met Juvia's non-skimpy requirements. Even so, she felt almost as if she were looking at someone else.

The only blue was that of her hair, standing out brightly against the muted fall tones of her outfit.

Gray-sama would definitely like this. He had to like this. Would he be able to tell how much trouble she went through making sure she wore something appropriate?

A knock came to the door and Juvia practically leapt across the room to answer it.

There was her Gray-sama, looking nervous in the most adorable way, and wearing a blue suit.

A suit. Formal wear. Blue, because he expected Juvia to wear blue too.

She was under dressed _and_ in the wrong colors.

"Gray-sama didn't tell Juvia she needed to dress up!"

"Huh?" he glanced toward her and then down at himself. "No, you—"

"Juvia has to change now. Please wait!" she moved to shut the door.

Gray stuff his foot in the doorway. "Hey! You don't need to change."

"Gray-sama is in a suit and Juvia looks…" she held her palms to the door, blinking back frustrated tears.

What a disaster! Her first date with Gray-sama, and she was already making a mess of it. How would she face him once she had found something appropriate to wear? This was not how this was supposed to happen. Gray-sama and Juvia's love was supposed to be effortless, their first date magical and the rest of their lives perfect. Yet here she stood, pushing him away from her over something as small as the outfit she wore.

"You look cute." His fingers curled around the door before he applied enough pressure to push her back. "Don't change. I like it."

"But Gray-sama is in a suit…"

"Yeah…. I overdressed. I'm not used to this kind of thing."

She released the door so her Gray-sama could she her entirely. He was bound to change his mind when he saw how mismatched they were. Juvia eyed the toes of her shoes, waiting for him to make the final judgement on whether or not they could go out to the mysterious place he had planned their date looking like this.

"I was wondering when you'd wear that hat."

"Huh?" she glanced up into the softness of his smile and suddenly nothing felt wrong anymore.

Gray touched the edge of the hat, his hand smoothing down along her hair, over her arm, until he'd managed to take a gentle hold of her hand. "I saw it in the closet, when we lived in the village. I never saw you wear it so I wondered what you were saving it for."

"Not this. Juvia had many outfits chosen, but the hat was all Juvia had for fall…"

"I'm glad. Now I wish I would have tried harder instead of assuming I had to wear a suit."

"Juvia thinks Gray-sama looks handsome!" she corrected him.

She pulled herself into his side, wrapping herself about his right arm, cheek pressed into his shoulder. This felt right, as silly as it might look to others. Gray-sama liked her outfit, and he had worn a suit for her because this was important to him too. Maybe this was more perfect than she thought. Maybe this wasn't a disaster at all. She was leaving on a date with Gray-sama.

What could be more perfect than this, love in the fall?

"Take Juvia away, Gray-sama!"


End file.
